KUKA at RSS 2019

KUKA was represented at "Robotics: Science and Systems" (RSS) in Freiburg from 22 to 26 June 2019 with a mobile robot application.

RSS is one of the most important international conferences in robotics and has been bringing robotics researchers from all over the world together for several years for a scientific exchange. In addition to the exhibition, the program includes various presentations, tutorials and workshops. KUKA was taking part with a lecture on "Mobile Manipulation" in the workshop "Task-Informed Grasping (TIG-II): From Perception to Physical Interaction".

Former hosts of the RSS include top-class research institutes such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Georgia Institute of Technology and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich. For the second time, the Robotics Conference took place in Germany, this time at the University of Freiburg. KUKA has a long-standing partnership with the organizing Institute for Autonomous Systems at the University of Freiburg for the development of algorithms for path planning, localization and mapping with mobile robots.

KUKA presented a mobile robot application at the internationally renowned robotics conference. A KUKA KMR iiwa - a mobile platform on which a sensitive KUKA LBR iiwa lightweight robot is mounted - transported crates to a roller conveyor. As the individual components already reveal, the KMR iiwa is characterized by high mobility and flexibility. Since the manufacturing processes in an industrial environment are constantly changing, the mobile robot systems must be all the more adaptable. Maximum mobility and autonomous working methods significantly optimize the production.

Safe cooperation between man and robot through seven joint torque sensors of the LBR iiwa and laser scanner on the platform.

Autonomously navigating robot systems can facilitate work in production. Our robots work hand in hand with humans and align themselves with the workpiece with millimetre precision.

Dr. Rainer Bischoff, Head of Corporate Research

In addition to the Institute for Autonomous Systems, the BrainLinks-BrainTools research center was also a host of the conference. At the research center, scientists from biology, technology and medicine work together on the further development of neurotechnologies. For example, a KUKA LBR iiwa is only controlled by brain activity, i.e. the idea of movement. For this reason, they were also participating in the RSS with a workshop on neurorobotics.